Power-operated typewriter



- Jan. 18,1927. 1514,4 52 I O. A. HOKANSON POWER OPERATED TYPEWRITERFiled March 1, 1924 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 1/2 yen/o1 Jan. 18, 1927.-

0. A.' HOKANSON POWER OPERATED TYPEWRITER 2 Streets-Sheet 2 Filed March1 1924 jm enfor Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,614,472 PATENT OFFICE.

.OTTO A. HOKANSON. 0F WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WOODSTOCK TYPE-WRITER COMPANY, 'OF WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

POWER-OPERATED TYIEWRITER;

Application filed March 1. 1924.

This invention relates to typewriting mechanism having a power device,such as an electric motor, for supplying the power to move the operatingparts, and has for one of its objects the provision of a device of theclass named which shall be of improved construction and operation,simple and economical to manufacture, and in which the operatingmechanism is controlled by the usual keyboard, the keys of which requirebut a very light touch to control the power-operated mechanism.

Another'object is to provide means whereby the writing mechanism'may beoperated entirely by the keyboard in the usual man- 'ner if desired.

Other objects will appear hereinafter. The invention is exemplified inthe com bination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanyingdrawings and described in the following specification, and it is moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a vertical fragmentary section of theoperating mechanism of a typewriter having one embodiment of the presentin vention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of a typewriter frame showing thedriving motor and operating shafts;

Fig. 3 is a'horizontal section of a portion of the typewriter frameshowing the control mechanism for the motor;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the interlockingmechanism for the typewriter keys; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the operating mechanism for theswitch shown in Fig. 3.

In the drawings, the numeral designates the frame of a typewritingmachine 'having key levers 11 pivotedat 12in a manner similar to that ofthe Woodstock type r writer. A series of type bars 13 are pivoted at 14and are provided with sub-levers 15 pivoted at 16 on the frame. Each ofthe sub-levers 15 is provided with a finger 17 disposed beneath a' pin18 on the corresponding key lever 11.

A series of plates 19 are pivoted on a cross-rod 20 and each plate isprovided with a slot 21 for receiving a stud 22 on the corresponding keylever 11. Each of the sub- Serial No. 696,113. 7

levers 15 has an actuator 23 pivoted at 24 thereto and provided with ahook 25 arranged to engage teeth 26 on a rotary driver 27. The driver 27comprises a cylinder extending transversely of the frame 10 andjourn-aled in the opposite sides thereof. The teeth 26 extendlongitudinally of the cylinder 27. At one side ofthe frame 10 thecylinder 27 is provided with a beveled pinion 28 which meshes with apinion 29 on a shaft 30 journaled at 31 and 32 in brackets projectingfrom the typewriter frame.

A motor 33 is mounted on the rear of the typewriter frame and providedwith a worm 34 which meshes with a worm gear 35 on the shaft 30. Meansis thus provided for continuously driving the cylinder 27 when the motoris operated. The operation of the motor is controlled by a switch '36 towhich one of the lead wires 37 from the motor is connected. The switch36 engages a contact member 38 connected with another lead 39 throughwhich the circuit of the electric motor is continued from the switch 36;

A bar 40 is slidably mounted adjacent the I 1 gaging the switch 36 toopen the motor cir cuit. At its forward end the rod 40 is pivotallyconnected at 42 toan angular plate 43 pivotally supported at 44 on theside .of the frame. A link 45 is also pivoted at 42 to the plate 43 andis supported at its forward end by a spring 46.- The link 45 is providedwith a slot 47 through which a screw 48 passes to provide connectionwith a hanger 49 pivotally supported from the side frame. A similarhanger 50 is pivoted at 51 on the opposite side of the side frame andthe two hangers 49 and 50 are connected by a'transverse bar 52.

A stud shaft 53 is journaled in the frame 10 and is provided with acrank 54 and an eccentric pin 55. The pin 55 engages a notch in theupper edge of the link 45 so that when the stud shaft 53 is oscillatedthe link 45 will be moved in a longitudinal direction.

.The notch in the upper edge of the link is the bar 40 will be shiftedrearwardly to back to back to the angle bar 56 and the lower flange ofthe bar 59 is provided with a series of slots to receive the actuators23. The upper flange of the bar 59 is likewise provided with a series ofslots to receive a series of tappets 60, there being one tappet for eachkey lever and its corresponding actuator, the tappets being pivoted at61 to the lower ends of the plates 19 and being rovided with contactheads 62 for engaginglpins 63 on the actuators 23.

ach of the actuators 23 is provided with a spring 64 supported bytheangle bar 56 for holding the actuator in retracted position away fromthe driver 27. The lower edges of the actuators 23 are provided with camfaces 65 arranged to engage a roller 66 on a shaft 67 which is supportedtransversely of the machine by a pair of arms 68 each pivotally mountedat 69 on opposite sides of the machine frame. The arms 69 are providedwith fingers 70 for engaging eccentrics 71 ona transverse shaft 72. Theshaft 7 2 is provided at one end with a crank 73 having a spring pin 74for engaging openings ina retainer plate 7 5. The pin 74 is operated bya fingerpiece 76 so that the crank may be turned to various angularpositions .and retained therein by the pin 74. This rotation of theshaft 72 will move the roller 66 toward and away from the cam face 65.

It will now be apparent that when a key lever 11 is depressed a slightdistance the corresponding actuator 23 will be moved by the tappet 60into the path of the teeth 26. Contact with theteeth 26 will move theactuator 23 in a longitudinal direction and thus operate the sub-lever15 and the corresponding type bar 13. Sutiicient clearance is providedto permit operation of the sub-lever 15 independently of the key lever11 after engagement of the actuator 23 with the teeth 26. It will benoted that the pin 18 on the Sub-lever contacts with the top of thefinger 17, but'the finger is free to move downwardly independently ofthe pin. The movement of the actuator 23 will cause the cam face 65 toengage the roller 66 and force the actuator out of mesh with the teeth26. The position of the roller 66 may be regulated by the shaft 72 tocontrol the force with which the type bars strike. The teeth 26 will beretained in mesh with the actuator for only a portion of the movement ofthe type bars and the remaining movement will be effected by themomentum of the moving parts.

Prior to contact between the cam face 65' and the roller 66 the pin 63will move past the lower end of the tappet 60 leaving the actuator 23free to move upwardly out of contact; with the teeth 26. As soon as the"actuator is released from the driving teeth it will be retracted by theSpring 64 and will be drawn against the lower edge of the tappet 60 inthe rear of the contact portion 62. It will be noted that the lower edgeof the contact portion'is bevelecbsothat upon release of the key leverthe beveled portion will ride over the pin 63 into position to reengagethe pin when the key is again depressed. i

As shown in Fig. 4, the transverse bar 52 is slotted at its upper edgeto provide a comb to receive the key levers 11. The lat eral face ofthe-bar 52 is also recessed to provide space for a series of tumblers 77seated. in notches 78 and enlarged at their upper ends to intercept thedownward movement of the key levers 11. Adjustable stops 79 are providedat each end of the bar 52 for re ulating the space between the tumblers77 so as topermit downward movement of but a single key lever at onetime. In the drawings the key levers are shown as provided withcontactwedges 80 for passing between the tumblers 77, but it will be-un.- derstood that these special contact wedges are not essential andthat the clearance between thetumblers 77 may be regulated toaccommodate merely the thickness of the key lever stock. Thisarrangement makes it impossible to depress more than one key lever at agiven time a sufiicient distance to cause its corresponding actuator toengage the driving cylinder. type bars is thus prevented.

A cover plate 81 is provided for the recess 77 and the upper edge ofthis cover plate forms a stop for thekey levers 11 so that onlysufiicient movement of the key levers'is permitted to selectively engagethe actuators 23 with the driver.- The cross-bar 52 is slotted much moredeeply than the top of the plate 81. It will be apparent that when thecrank 54 is drawn forwardly to open the switch 36 the cross-bar 52 willbe moved rearwardly, as previously stated. This will.

bring the upper edge of the plate 81 out of registration with thecontact wedges 80 so that the key levers are free to move downwardly fortheir full range of movement. This will permit sufiicient actuation ofthe key levers to operate the type bars by hand in the usual manner. Atthesame time that the plate 81 is moved rearwardly the angular plates 43will also be swung rearwardly and upwardly, thus lifting the transverseangle bar 59 and the tappets 60 so that they will 'be raised out ofoperative relation with' the actuators 23. Thus at the same time thatthe electric switch is opened, the power mech- Interference between thefee anism will be automatically disconnected and the machine will be setfor manual operation.

During manual Operation the key levers will be returned to their initialposition by the usual springs 82 and the type bars will u be restoredafter each .stroke by the spring (5st in the same manner as during poweroporation. The tappets 60, will, however, be maintained out of operativerelation with the actuators 23 so that the actuators will not becausedto engage the teeth 26. It is apparent that such engagement wouldinterfere with manual operation.

The movement of the cross-bar 52 is sufficient to bring the plate 81 outof registration with the wedges 80, but does not move the tumblers 77suflicient to bring them out of the path of the wedges. It will thus beseen that the interlocking mechanism for the key levers is effectiveboth for power. and hand operation. Since no two key leverscan bedepressed at one t me the operator may rest his fingers uniformly uponthe keyboard without causing move ment of any of the keys. This is anadvantage in case the operator wishes to rest his hands and fingers forashort time as they may be dropped upon the keyboard without causingmovement of the type bars either during hand operation or poweroperation.

While the presen tsinvention is illustrated by the embodi'ments shownand described herein, it will be apparent that various modifications andchanges may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended cla ms.

I claim:

1.. The combination with a typewriter having type bars, of an electricmotor for operating said type bars, a switch for controlling said motor,a plurality of key levers adapted to operate said type barsindependently of said motor, said switch being operable inde pendentlyof said key levers, and means for preventing operation of said type barsby said key levers when sa d switch is closed.

2. The combination with a typewriter having type bars, of a motor fordriving said type bars, a switch for controllingsaid motor, a pluralityof key levers adapted to operate said type bars, a stop for said keylevers for preventing operation of said type bars by sa d key levers,and means for interconneeting said stop with said switch to move saidstop out of operative relation with said key levers when said switch isopened and to bring said stop into operative relation with said keylevers when said switch is closed. r

3. The combination with a typewriter, of

I power mechanism for driving said typewriter, a plurality of keylevers, an electric switch operable independently of said'key levers forcontrolling said power mechanism, a plurality of key levers, a lockingdevice for limiting the movement of said key levers,

means operable by said key levers during the limited movement thereoftor operatively connecting said power mechanlsm with said typewriter, sad locking device being movable to a position to permit a greatermovement of said key levers for operating said typewriter independently.ofsald power mechanism, andmeans for interconnecting said switch andlocking device to prevent actuation of said typewriter bysaid key leverswhen said switch is closed.

l. The'combination with a type bar, of a sub-lever fpr operating saidtype bar, a key lever for operating said sub-lever, contact members onsaid key lever and sub-lever for actuating said sub-lever when said keylever is depressed but permitting movement of said sub-lever to actuatesaid type bar independent of said key'lever, an actuatorfor saidsub-lever, a continuously operating driver, means operable by a limitedmovement of said key lever for causing said actuator to engage saiddriver and move said sub-lever independently of said key lever, and aspring connected with said actuator tor returning said sub-lever tonormal po sition independently of said key lever.

5. In a typewriter, a continuously operating driver, a plurality of typebars, actuators for said type bars, key levers, tappets controlled bysaid key levers for moving said actuators into operative relation withsaid driver, and means for moving said tappets out of operative relationwith said actuators.

(3. In a typewriter, a plurality of type bars, a power-operated driver,actuators for connecting said type bars with said driver, a plurality ofkey levers one for each type bar, tappets connected with said key leversand operated thereby and for selectively connecting said actuators withsaid driver, a common guide device for said tappets, and means forshifting said guide device to move said tappets out of operativerelation with said actuators.

7. In a typewriter, a plurality of type bars, a power-operated driver,actuators for said ty 'e'bars, key levers, means for limiting themovement of said key levers, tappets operated by said key levers duringthe limited movement thereof for selectively engaging said actuatorswith said driver, a guide bar for said tappets, and means forsimultaneously shifting said guide bar and said l miting means formoving said tappets out of operative relation with said actuators andfor moving said :limiting means out of operative relation with said keylevers .to permit a greater range of movement of said key levers foroperating said type bars independently of said driver.

8. In a typewriter, a plurality of type bars, a power-operated driver,actuators for said type bar arranged to engage said driver, tappets forcontrolling said actuators,

key levers for operating said tappets, a. stop for limiting the movementof said key levers, a guide bar having slots therein for -said actuatorsand tappets, a movable sup- 9.-In a typewriter, a plurality of keylevers. a slotted bar forming a comb for guiding said key levers, proect1ons on sand key levers movable in the slots in said comb,

and means for, shifting said comb to vary the relation thereof with saidprojections, said comb having means thereon for mtercepting said proections when said comb is in one position but disposed out of the pathof said projections when said comb is in another. position.

. 10. A typewriter comprising a plurality of key levers havingdownwardly extending projections thereon, a barhaving slots thereinforming a comb in which said projections are guided, a stop connectedwith said comb for engaging said pro ections to limitthe movement ofsaid key levers, and means for shifting said comb to bring said stop outof registration with said projections.

11,. In a typewriter, a plurality of key levers, a slotted bar forming acomb for guiding said key levers, a pivotal support for said comb, astop on said comb for limit ing the movement of said key levers, a linkhaving a pin and slot connection withsaid comb, a lever having a pin andslot con vnection with said link for shifting said comb and stoprelative to 'said key levers, and a spring for holding said link inoperative relation with said lever.

12. A'typewriter comprising a plurality of type bars, key levers foractuating said type bars, a power-operated driver, actuators for saidkey levers, tappets operatedby said key levers for moving said actuatorsinto contact with said driver,- a guide bar for said tappets, a swingingsupport for said guide bar, a stop for limiting the movement of said keylever, a swinging sup- )ort for said sto a link connectin said 1 P z:

swinging supports, and means tor shifting.

said link to simultaneously bring said tappets out of operative relationwith said actuators and to bring said stop out of op-f erative relationwith said key levers.

'13. A typewriter having a pluralityof 1 key levers, of a motor drivefor said typefor causing operation of said typewriter by said motordrive, a stop for limiting the movement of said key levers, andinterlocking mechanism to preventmovement of more than one of said keylevels at a given time, said stop being movable to an inoperativeposition to permita larger range of movement of said key levers, saidinterlocking mechanism remaining inoperative relation with said keylevers when said stop is so moved.

14;. A typewriter comprising a plurality of key levers a power drivendevice for operating said typewriter, means controlled by said keylevers for operatively connecting said typewriter with said power drivendevice, a stop for limiting the movement of said key levers, tumblers'for preventing operation of more than one of said key levers at a giventime, and means for moving said step to permit a larger range ofmovement of said key lev'ers for hand operation of said typewriter, saidtumblers remaining in operative relation with said key levers duringsaid greater range of movement.

, 15In a typewriter, motor driven mechanism, a plurality of'type bars,ke levers, a'device to stop the key .levers so tiat they cannot be movedbeyond a given position adaptable to the operation of the motor drivenmechanism, interlocking means associated with said stop device forallowing no more than a single key lever to be depressed at one time,andmeans for moving said sto'p device and interlocking means intoa newposition adaptable to manual op erati-on of the type bars, in which newposition said stop device permits the key levers to move farther andsaid interlocking means permits "only one key to operate at a time.

16. The combination with a typewriter having a plurality of key levers,of a mo ots tor driven device 'for actuating said typewriter, meanscontrolled by a limited movement of said key levers for causingactuation of said typewriter by said power driven device, a 'stop forlimiting the movement of said keylevers, means for preventing simul-OTTO A. HOKANSON.

